War
by mamaXunicorn
Summary: Emma gets advice from someone very unexpected. Post BAD REPUTATION. Wemma.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: So this is because I have writers block for my other wemma stories and this has been floating around in my head since 'Bad Reputation'. It is my fantasy and what I wish would happen on the show instead of Emma and her stupid dentist! **_

_**I hope April's character is not too OOC in this. I tried to get her right but she's hard to write. **_

_**I didn't think I would actually write this but I was bored because I'm sick and its hot and I was in the mood for Wemma! So I really hope you enjoy this!

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"Hey Cookie." Emma whirled around to see a familiar blonde standing in her office doorway dressed in a mini denim skirt and a low cut white blouse.

Emma's brow furrowed and she stepped away from her filing cabinet, walking back towards her desk. "April Rhodes?"

"The one and only!" April laughed with a cheeky grin and stepped into Emma's office, her heels clicking against the linoleum.

Emma lifted her eyebrows slightly as she slid into her chair, folding her hands on her lap. "Um...what are you...uh...you know that Will is in another room." Emma chocked a little on his name, having not spoken it since that outburst in the cafeteria nearly a month ago.

April let out another laugh and waved her hand in the air. "I'm not here to see Will! I'm here to see you!"

Emma's eyes widened as April took a seat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of her desk. Emma had to admit she was a little shocked that April didn't come into her office wobbling, in fact she didn't look drunk at all.

"M-me?" Emma stuttered. "Um...April...you know that I'm not...um...I'm not a public guidance counsellor. You do have to be a student here."

April gave her an exasperated look. "I'm not here for help honey. I'm here to help you."

Emma blinked. "I'm-I'm sorry?"

"I heard about the little incident in the cafeteria..." April said and Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Emma glanced down at her hands, twisting together in her lap and let out a frustrated sigh.

"April, if Will sent you here..."

"Will has no idea I'm here." April cut her off Emma glanced up at her, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "He thinks I'm in New York."

Emma sucked in a breath and stared at April with a bit of skepticism. "I'm a little confused. Why exactly are you here?"

"It's like I said, to help you." April replied, crossing one leg over the other and then leaned forward. "To help both of you."

"No offense April, but I'm really not interested." Emma responded, taking a folder on her desk and opening it, sending April a message. Emma had been fighting with herself for the past few weeks on whether or not to forgive Will. She'd been avoiding him at any and all costs. She'd eat lunch in her office with the door locked, she'd schedule appointments on his free periods and made sure to leave early on days he had glee, and leave really late the days he didn't. Despite trying to ignore him, she'd occasionally pass him in the hallway, pass his spanish classroom and hear him explaining something in the foreign language or pass the choir room and hear him talking to the glee kids or singing himself. Every time that would happen she would feel a longing in her chest, that new feeling of missing someone terribly. Part of her wanted nothing more than to surrender to her feelings and run into his arms and never let him go. The more rational and slightly more dominant side told her not to. Her broken heart ruled her emotions and they always won the ongoing conflict between her heart and her head.

The last thing Emma wanted to do was talking to the woman who was part of the cause of what had happened. She had heard enough apologies from Will, she did not need any fake explanation and apology from April.

"He's hurting just as much as you are." April's voice was softer than Emma remembered hearing out of the blonde and it pulled her out of her thoughts.

"I doubt that." Emma responded bitterly, skimming the file on her desk.

"Emma." It was the first time Emma had heard April call her by her name, not that they had had many interactions in the past but still it caught her attention and Emma looked up at her. April was looking back at her with a serious look on her face. "He does."

Emma swallowed hard. The part of her that missed Will was starting to take over but then the rational side popped up and beat it down. She quickly lifted her eyebrows and shook her head. "And how would you know this? Does he talk to you alot? I suppose I'm not surprised."

"He's lonely hon, he needs a friend. I'm his friend, that's all."

Emma continued to shake her head, refusing to look up at April.

"That Will Schuester is a cutie patootie but there is nothing going on between us."

"Really?" Emma asked skeptically. "I never really expected Will to be the one night stand type of guy."

April's eyebrows shot into her hairline. "What? Whoa, cookie, do you think Will and I had sex?"

Emma closed her eyes tightly and dug her pen into the paper she was writing on.

"Well no wonder you are so upset with him!" April exclaimed and sighed. "Emma, Will and I didn't do anything."

Emma looked up at her coldly. "I can tolerate alot of things April, but one thing I don't appreciate is being lied to."

"I'm not lying!" April exclaimed.

Emma shook her head, glancing back down again. "When I told Will that I knew he slept with you he didn't deny it."

"Well, yeah, we did sleep together." April confirmed. "But we didn't 'sleep' together."

Emma gave her an annoyed look, clenching her jaw.

"Look." April gave her a pointed look. "I needed a place to stay, Will needed someone to stay in his apartment. I barged into his home unannounced. He didn't even want me to stay there! I convinced him to let me stay and he told me sleep on the couch. Now, I don't sleep well all alone so I went to his bedroom and climbed into his bed next to him. He was facing away from me for most of the time and I could tell he was just as lonely as I was. The whole night I was clothed, he was clothed, the most we did was hold hands and it was strictly platonic. We fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed and we slept. That's all. According to him, I slept and he stayed up all night with me kicking him." She laughed a bit but then stopped at seeing Emma's look. "I wouldn't lie to you Emma. I am many things but I'm not liar. I care about Will but not as anything more than a brother."

Emma swallowed again, just staring at April as she told her story. The conflict inside her had blown up into a war. Her heart and mind battled ferociously. Her heart wanting to believe April which would make Will a better person than she thought but her head warning her heart that it was all a lie and Will would just break her heart again.

Emma took a shuddering breath and tried to push back the tears poking at the back of her eyes and looked down.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Emma. I understand your reasoning behind what you did. I would have done the same thing, probably worse! I wanted to slap him when I heard what he did."

"He told you?" Emma's voice squeaked.

"He has no one else to talk to. You were the one who he always talked to but since your the one thats mad at him, he needed someone else. That someone is me. He's been calling me alot lately, its starting to get annoying!" She tried to lighten the mood with a small burst of humor but it didn't work. "He told me about Shelby, yes. He feels terrible Emma. I don't think you realize how bad he really feels."

"I don't think you realize how bad he hurt me." Emma responded quietly.

"Judging by the way he keeps ranting about how stupid he is, I think I do. I also think you need to go a little easier on him. He's going through a messy divorce, his own heart is broken from the loss of his baby, and he was trying to start a new relationship on top of that. I'm not saying those are excuses for what he did but...he didn't do it on a clear mind. You've known Will for longer than I have and even I know he'd never hurt anybody like that on purpose." April explained.

Emma closed her eyes as a tear slipped over her eyelid and rolled down her cheek. She sniffled quietly and let out another shuddering breath. "April..."

"I just want the both of you to be happy. Will really cares about you Emma, I don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out."

Emma shook her head. "If he did he wouldn't have done..." She trailed off and continued to shake her head.

April bit her lip and leaned forward, closer to Emma and said in a low voice. "I shouldn't really be telling you this. I'm surprised he even told me this."

Emma opened her eyes and looked up at April, her vision blurry from the tears that occasionally slipped out.

"He cries." April said bluntly and Emma furrowed her brow, cocking her head to the side and April nodded.

"He told me sometimes he's cried himself to sleep over hurting you. When he talks about you on the phone I can hear this voice crack and the sniffling."

Emma's eyes widened in shock and she swallowed, another tear dripping down her cheek.

"I don't want to see him suffer anymore. I don't want you to suffer anymore. Will made a mistake, a terrible, horrible, stupid mistake. But I can see it in your eyes how much you really still care about him. I can see how much you love him despite all of this and I know for a fact how much he loves you."

Emma's eyebrows twitched and her eyes questioned April's words.

"He's told me he loves you." April nodded. "The way he talks about you, you're a lucky woman and I don't want to see you throw that away. What you and Will have is something that people across the world, including me, hope for and dream about."

Emma sucked in and released a deep breathe. "I just can't be hurt again April." She shook her head, suppressing a whimper. "I love him," It was the first time she had admitted it to herself in nearly a month and it surprised her how good it sounded, "so much and thats why it hurt so much. I can't go through this again...I can't...I just can't."

"It won't happen again." April stated surely.

"You can't be sure." Emma replied in a whisper.

"Yes I can." April said and Emma glanced up at her skeptically. "You know why? Because I know Will. And I know that you know Will too. I know that somewhere deep inside you you know that Will will never do this to you again. The surface needs a little convincing but you still know. You love him, he loves you. That's all there is to it."

Emma scoffed. "It's not that simple."

"But it could be." April pointed out. "If you let it be. You are afraid to take a risk Emma by trusting him again. Is that fear really risk losing him forever? I've heard that love conquers all fears and I've never seen two people more helplessly in love with each other than you two."

April rose out of her chair and Emma slowly followed her with her eyes.

"I gotta be going." April said with a smirk. "I got a date! We're gonna to a bar and get ourselves a drink! Woo!" She slapped her thigh and laughed happily. Then She winked at Emma and headed towards the doorway. She paused there and looked back at Emma. "Give him a second chance cookie, you know you want to."

Then like a ghost, April disappeared out of her doorway, leaving Emma to ponder all that was said.

Her tears had stopped falling but felt like she could burst into tears at any minute. The war inside of her kept raging on, blow after blow, with no winner.

Emma wanted so badly to believe April. She'd never seen the blonde as serious as she was the whole time in her office. The most Emma believed April was capable of was drinking and singing. She didn't realize how serious she could be when she wanted to be and how insightful she could be. Not even Emma's therapist had made her think as much as April had.

The war continued on and on, the headache and the tears starting to fall again, proved that. Her thoughts ran wildly through her head that sent messages back between her heart and her head and they were screaming at each other and screaming at her. They both knew they deserved to win but which one would succeed? Which one was stronger?

Then her whole body trembled as the war came to a close in a rich explosion that sent a river of tears flooding down her face. She applauded the victor for its rightful win and looking into the mirror on her desk, knew what she had to do.

* * *

Emma stood in front of Will's doorway silently peeking in. She had thoroughly cleaned off her face so there would be no evidence that she had been crying and then found herself in front of Will's room.

The room was empty except for Will sitting at his desk, leaning over a stack of papers and holding a half of a sandwich in his hand. For the first time in the several weeks she'd seen him, she smiled at the sight of him. Looking at him she didn't see the man who kissed another woman, who (up until she was shown differently) slept with another woman, who was a slut. She saw the man who sent her warm, loving smiles from across the hallway, who held her close while they danced in his apartment, whose kisses felt like fire against her lips, whose touches made the butterflies dance in her stomach, whose smile could light up her whole world. She saw the man she had fallen helplessly in love with nearly two years ago the first day on the job.

Emma took a deep breathe, knocked on the door and then pushed it open.

Will looked up from his desk, clearly expecting anyone but her, his mouth clearly full with a bite of his sandwich and she suppressed a giggle at the sight.

He visibly swallowed and sent her a shocked and perplexed look. "Emma?"

"Hi Will." She said shyly.

A small hopeful smile tugged at his lips as he slowly rose from his desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Um..." She wrung her hands together and cringed at the sweat on her palms, resisting the urge to wash her hands. "I...wanted to talk."

"Oh." Will's face fell and he remained standing where he was not taking a step closer.

She let out a breath and wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt, cringing again, knowing she'd have to change immediately when she got home.

Emma let out a small half laugh and started to step closer to him. "You'll never believe who was in my office today."

"Who?" Will asked a little nervously.

"April Rhodes."

Will's eyebrows shot up. "A-April? What? Wait, she's here? She's supposed to be in New York."

"I know." Emma nodded, continuing her slow journey towards him. "But she's not."

Will shook his head, confused.

"She wanted to talk to me. Um...she actually gave me some really good advice."

"April?" Will asked skeptically. "We are talking about the same April Rhodes aren't we?"

Emma smirked lightly and let out a small chuckle. "Yes, we are. She opened my eyes to things that I've been trying to keep hidden."

Will shook his head slowly. "I don't understand Emma."

Emma let out another breath and stopped just a few feet away from Will. She stared at his feet for a couple of moments and then bravely looked up at his eyes. She could see the confusion, a little worry and nervousness, but also the adoration and a promise. The promise that April was talking about, the promise never to hurt her.

"This goes against all my better judgement Will." She whispered to him and his face twisted up in confusion.

"I miss you." She admitted quietly and Will's confused expression turned into something that was a mix of relief, shock and hope.

"I've been trying to deny it. I didn't want to miss you, I didn't want to feel this way about you. April helped me realize that its no use. Will, I lied to you when I said I can't look at you in the way I used to because the truth is I do. I always do. When you're not looking, I'll catch myself looking at you that way. When I find presents from you on my desk in the morning, I put them in my bag and wait until I get home and hold them for hours." She shook her head, scoffing lightly, "The coffee mug, the vase of flowers, the cards, they're all on my dresser and I stay up some nights just staring at them. It is so pathetic and I've tried so hard to forget you, to forget all about the gifts, to throw them out but something stops me every time. It took April Rhodes of all people to realize what that was. And that is that I don't want to forget you. I can't, I won't, and I never will forget you."

She found that throughout her speech, she had avoided his gaze and looked everywhere but his face. After she was done however, she slowly looked back up at him to gauge his reaction.

His face was blank but she could see the smile in his eyes and knew that his lips wanted to follow. "I don't want to continue like we have been doing the last month Will. I want to be with you again." She shook her her and let out a sigh. "I don't know if I'm ready to jump into a romantic relationship. But I can't ignore you any longer. Over the past few weeks I've realized it hurts more to be away from you than to be near you."

"Emma..." Will whispered, shaking his head. Emma felt her heart flutter at the sound of his voice saying her name and she continued to stare at him nervously.

A relieved smile spread across his face. "God, I've missed you."

A hesitant smile tugged at her lips and she remained silent.

"These last few weeks have been absolute torture for me, Emma. I thought I'd never be able to see you again even just as your friend, even just as your co-worker."

"You'll always be more than just a co-worker to me Will." Emma said with a smile.

A happy smile was on his lips and he let out a breathy laugh. "I don't want things to be like they have been either. I miss us. Even before we were together, we always talked about everything and seeing you and spending time in your office was the highlight of my day. I loved it and I've missed it and I've missed you. I am so glad I get to have my best friend back."

A real, genuine smile crossed Emma's lips. "So am I." She agreed.

"I understand that its going to take alot of time for you to really trust me again. I get it, I really do. For right now I think we should work on getting our friendship back and as time goes by we can think about moving past that."

Emma's face fell a little at his words but she nodded in agreement.

"I'm still in the process of getting divorced." He sighed heavily. "Terri's not really cooperating very well. And I think that we should wait until my divorce is final until we even consider dating again."

Emma nodded again. "Yes. That sounds very reasonable."

Will smiled softly at her and she returned it. Having Will in front of her with none of the awkward tension that had been surrounding them the last few weeks, was like being in heaven. Thinking about a relationship with him made her a little nervous but she thought about their friendship it made her heart swell with joy. She knew that if she was meant to be together with Will than it would happen and at the moment she was perfectly happy to be his best friend.

"So," Will jutted his hand out towards her, "Friends?"

Emma looked down at his hand and stared at it for a few moments. Then she looked up at him, a sly smile crossing her lips. Instead of taking his hand, she threw his arms around him, taking him completely by surprise. She smiled into his shirt when she felt his strong arms wrap around her and hold her tight against him. She lifted her head and pushed herself onto her toes and whispered into his ear.

"Always."


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Due to popular demand I decided to write a follow up chapter. THIS is the last chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

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**_

Emma sighed and cast a sideways glance at the clock on her desk. Only twenty more minutes until she could see Will. The last month Will and Emma had been steadily regaining their friendship.

The morning after Emma decided to give Will another chance, while she was setting up her office for the day Will appeared out the window waving at her. Instead of feeling awkward and trying to ignore him, she smiled and waved back. Will grinned at her and continued on his way down the hallway.

At lunch time, Emma wasn't sure what would happen. She had been eating in her office for the past month and didn't know whether she would be continuing that. When the bell rang signaling the beginning of her lunch period, she looked up at the doorway, wondering and hoping if Will would show up.

She stared out her doorway for quite a few minutes and just as she felt her hopes diminish, Will appeared in her doorway. He looked a little hesitant as he slowly walked into her office, as if he wasn't sure if he should be there.

Emma smiled to reassure him, bringing her lunch bag up from under her desk. Without a word, she stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to him.

Will's eyes lit up brightly at her actions and she noticed that he was holding a brown paper lunch bag in his right hand. Just like always, after Emma locked her office door, they walked towards the cafeteria, side by side.

Along the way, Will started to make conversation with her, asking her how she'd been. They quickly fell into normal conversation just like always.

When they walked into the faculty lounge, together, the teachers in the room all stopped and stared. The two teachers hadn't shown their faces to the faculty lounge since Emma's outburst and the last thing they expected was for them to show up together and smiling.

They tried to ignore the quickly fallen silence as they entered the room and every eye on them and the whispers that filled the quiet air. Will and Emma shared a quick glance and they headed towards their usual table which remarkably was empty.

Being the gentleman he was, Will pulled out Emma's chair for her. Emma smiled softly and tried to hide the blush that flushed her cheeks. Will resisted the extremely tempting urge to kiss her cheek or the top of her head as she took a seat. Instead, he just brushed his hand against her shoulder and took the seat next to her.

For several minutes into the period, the rest of the faculty kept their eyes on the yet-to-be couple who seemed like they hadn't been avoiding each other for the past month.

Emma took out her tupperware, her gloves and her wipes and started to prepare her lunch. Will took out of his brown paper bag a sandwich bag, a small bag with two chocolate chip cookies, and an apple.

They ate their lunches as they conversed happily. Will catching Emma up on what the glee kids were up to and Emma listened, giving her comments and advice every so often.

When the lunch period was over, Will would wait at the table while Emma packed up all of her tupperware and then he'd walk her back to her office resisting, once again, to kiss her goodbye.

That routine continued for days and weeks after that. After a week, Emma started meeting Will up in the hallways in their usual spot, walk around for a little while, sometimes taking the long way to her office. Will would randomly show up in her office on his free periods and she'd schedule her appointments on his class periods, only make an exception when it was an emergency.

Emma never thought she'd be able to get back to that. To be able to get back to how it was before, to be able to feel the same way about him. It comforted her to know that Will would be there when she was ready to take the next step with him. The last time she was in this position with Will he was married and expecting a baby, there was no hope for them. Now all that was holding their romance back was her lack of trust in him, there was still that hope.

Will was slowly beginning to earn her trust back. He had earned it back as her friend but as anything more than that, she still struggled trusting him.

On one of his free periods, Will mustered up his courage to talk about what had happened. Emma protested telling him that they didn't have to talk about it. Will insisted that they did and he thoroughly explained what had happened with Shelby and confirmed what April told her was true.

Emma had to admit that she felt slightly better that she had heard the whole truth from Will himself. However, it still hurt her to think about. So after that day, she tried to put that out of her mind and focus on getting their friendship back.

And now she was able to get back to that feeling of when thinking about him caused butterflies in her stomach and she felt herself sighing dreamily.

Then, after two weeks, Will announced that he was officially divorced. He seemed to be a little less cheerful than he usually was and Emma didn't blame him. Even after what Terri had done to him, being divorced is always hard on someone. She felt the familiar pang of jealousy when she realized that some part of Will, no matter how small it was, would always care for his ex-wife.

After a couple of days of Will being quiet and down trot, he began to be his normal self again. Now that Emma knew he was officially single, she began to think.

For two weeks she thought about whether or not she should try to begin something again with him. Lord knows she wanted to. It was just the trust issue that was holding her back. Was she ready to trust him in a relationship again? She thought back to what April had told her about Will being in the wrong frame of mind when it happened. Will had told her the same thing. He was not thinking clearly because of the divorce. Since he was officially divorced and had been for two weeks, she knew he'd have a clearer mind.

That was when she came to her decision. Emma would muster up the courage and ask Will out on a date.

Which was why she was incredibly anxious for the period to end. Her appointment with a senior had ended ten minutes ago and she was stuck without a distraction for the next fifteen.

Emma drummed her fingernails against the desk, staring off into space, getting lost in her thoughts. That however didn't last long and she found herself more anxious than before.

She sighed again and shook the mouse to the computer on her desk. When the screen lit to life she skimmed through the students' files searching for anything to do. She scheduled appointments for some students for the next week. After that, she checked her email and most of them were just boring faculty letters talking about events the school was having or a fire drill that was scheduled. After a few messages she saw one that put a grin on her face.

**Will Schuester Hi :) 10:37 ** **AM**

She clicked open the email and scanned the contents.

_Hey Emma, just wanted to say hi. I'm not sure if you'll get this before I see you today but if you do, I can't wait to see you. _

_The kids are taking a test and I'm sitting here bored out of my mind. I'd love to hear from you.  
_

_Will_

Emma instantly clicked the reply button and started to type a response.

_Hello Will,_

_I am sorry to hear about your boredom. You only need to suffer for ten more minutes. _

_I can't wait to see you either. _

_Emma_

Emma hit send and crossing her legs, sat back in her chair to wait for a response. Not a minute later a new email arrived in her inbox labeled **Re: Hi :)**

_Your response made me laugh. The kids looked at me weird. Now they know I'm slacking off while they work. Oh well._

_Nine minutes now. _

_Will_

She smiled to herself. She and Will were speaking like two teenagers, counting down the minutes until they got to see each other. Emma watched the clock for about thirty seconds before hitting the reply button.

_Oh, you better watch out Will. They might take advantage of that._

_Eight._

_Emma_

She hit the send button and sure enough, a minute later she got a response.

_I put the attendance list up on another tab. They'll never know ;) _

_Seven._

Emma giggled to herself and waited again before typing a response.

_You sly fox you. _

_Six. _

Once again she hit send and waited a minute before the next email showed up.

_;) _

_Five._

That continued for the next five minutes. When it hit the last ten seconds before the ball rang, Emma typed a last response.

_Zero. _

_On my way. _

She hit send just as the bell rang. She sprang up from her seat faster than she ever had before and hastily walked out of her office. Emma of course locked the door before leaving.

Emma weaved her way in and out of the crowd of students. Waving and giving a small greeting to the glee kids who had passed her. Her mind was only focused on one thing and that being the glee club director.

She made the familiar trek to Will's classroom and smiled upon seeing the crowd of students leaving the room. She paused near the door waiting for all of the kids to exit. Kurt and Tina exited the room, chatting together and smirked when they saw her. Emma knew just by the looks on their faces that they knew she was the one who had caused Will to laugh in the middle of a test. She smiled shyly and hid her blushing face as the two teenagers sniggered and continued their way down the hall.

Once all of the students were out of the classroom and into the hallway, Emma turned to walk into the classroom and almost smacked into Will who had suddenly appeared in front of her.

She squeaked in surprise and threw a hand over her heart. "Will!" She breathily exclaimed. "Gosh, you scared me!" She didn't expect him to be that close. He was so close that if Emma wanted to she could lean up and kiss him but she lacked the tremendous courage to do that.

"Sorry." Will whispered and her breath caught in her chest. Emma stared up into his eyes, getting lost in the sea of hazel that she wouldn't mind swimming in for days.

Emma could feel her heart beating wildly against her chest. Even though it was several months ago, Emma still remembered every perfect detail of their second date. How wonderful she felt being pressed up against him while they slow danced in his living room. Having their hands intertwined and resting against his chest where she could feel his heart beating. Being surrounded by the warmth of his body heat and the warmth her own body gave her from being so close to him. Hearing bells chime, fireworks go off and all of the other cliches when she kissed him. Remembering how _good_ it felt to be able to be that close to him without fear of his wife or Ken getting in the way. How being with Will was everything she ever expected it to be and so much more.

Remembering that night and being with him now, it was like the last two months had faded into oblivion. There was no Shelby, there was no April, there was no calling him a slut in front of the oddly crowded faculty lounge. It was simply them, together but with the knowledge that they didn't have before. The knowledge that they needed each other and that they couldn't stand to be without each other. The knowledge of truly knowing each other's hearts, the knowledge of finally knowing who they really were. And who they truly were were nothing without each other.

Emma had a piece of Will and Will had a piece of Emma. Without each other, it'd be like they were missing a part of themselves.

Staring into each others eyes at that moment, they both realized that.

Their moment, however, was rudely interrupted by the shrill sound of the bell ringing. Both Will and Emma jumped at the sound and Emma blinked, breaking their intense eye lock.

Will stepped aside letting Emma into his classroom and then shut the door to give them some privacy.

"I'm surprised to see you here Em." He stated and she turned to him, her eyebrow raised in question. Her mind immediately drifted back to the emails they had sent each other.

Clearly remembering them too, Will was quick to correct himself. "I mean down here in my classroom. You usually don't come down here, we're usually in your office."

Emma smiled at his explanation and nodded. "Oh yes...well um...I wanted to talk to you and have a little privacy where there wouldn't be any glass walls."

Will quirked an eyebrow looking intrigued and then a little nervous. He hoped that she would not be rejecting him, he thought that they were regaining their friendship and on the road to something more.

Emma's smile widened at his look and that gave him a sense of relief. "Don't look so nervous Will. I'm not going to bite your head off."

Will visibly relaxed and a warm smile spread across his face. He walked towards her and hopped up onto a desk right beside her. Like a child, he started to kick his feet back and forth, smiling at her in innocent wonder. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Emma blushed immediately at the thought and glanced at the ground, playing with her fingers.

"Emma?" She heard his voice question and she snuck a peek up at him and saw he was gazing at her in concern.

"Um...this is kinda really embarrassing..." She laughed nervously. "I've never actually done this before."

Will raised both his eyebrows, wondering what in the world she could possibly want to talk to him about. "Whatever it is Emma, you know you can tell me anything." He reassured her.

Emma's lips perked up in a smile. "Yes I know that Will." She replied quietly. "It's not really something I want to tell you...but more of something I want to ask you."

Will adopted the inquisitive looked again and he stared at her in silence, waiting for her to go on.

Emma inhaled and exhaled deeply and then glanced up at Will. "You have been incredibly patient with me Will for the past month. I'm very grateful that you're willing to put your feelings aside to wait for me to trust you again."

Will's eyebrows lifted further and she could see the hopeful glint in his eyes. She smiled at him and continued, "I think I'm ready Will." She paused and reached out her hands, sliding them into his that were rested on his lap. She stared at their locked fingers for a few seconds before looking up to his face. "I know I'm ready."

A small smile was playing at Will's lips but Emma could tell he was ready to burst from excitement. "It's not going to be easy but I'm tired of putting my own feelings away. I miss being with you Will, really being with you. Being this close to you." She gave his hands a squeeze and he rubbed his thumbs against the soft skin on the back of her hand. "I want to give us another try Will." She nodded confidently as a shy smile crossed her face. "I want to go on a second first date with you."

Will's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. The bright, goofy smile that threatened to break out before broke loose and covered practically his whole face. "Emma I would _love_ to go on a second first date with you."

Emma smiled brightly. "Um..I was thinking we could have it at my place this time. You cooked for me last time, I want to cook for you."

"Sounds perfect." Will said, still smiling away.

"Is tomorrow night too early for you?" Emma asked.

Will shook his head slightly. "Tomorrow night is perfect."

"Say six o'clock?"

"Six o'clock it is." Will agreed.

"Perfect." She whispered, her eyes locking onto his once again. The mood they had created before in the doorway had returned once again. Only this time, Emma didn't feel the nerves about asking him out, only the excitement and anticipation of the following night's events.

"Emma?" Will whispered to her.

"Yes Will?" Emma whispered back.

Will was quiet for a few seconds and she could tell he was mulling over something in his brain. His lips parted slightly and for a brief second, her eyes flickered down to his lips, longing to have them pressed against her own in a tender kiss. Then her eyes quickly flickered back to his eyes and they remained locked there.

"Would you mind if I kissed you?" His voice was a near whisper but the words rang loud and clear in her head. They sent sparks flying to every part of her body and sent her heart beating at a million miles per minute.

"Not at all." The words barely escaped her lips but she knew Will heard them when he started to lean in closer. Emma saw his gorgeous eyes disappear behind his eyelids and she quickly followed suit. She was in total darkness, could feel Will's breath up against her mouth and then she was in total bliss.

Will tasted and felt better than she ever had remembered. Being without him for two months ( and even longer due to their 'No Dating' policy) really made kissing him again a whole lot more wonderful.

Their lips melded together like they were made for each other's. Nothing felt as perfect or as right as kissing Will.

Their lips parted for a split second before they both dove in for more. The kiss was soft and tender and full of longing. Two plus months of hiding and suppressing their feelings for one another finally expressed itself in that kiss.

Will's hand left Emma's and found its way to rest on the side of her face. Without even realizing it, Emma took a few steps forward, settling herself in between Will's legs. Will's hand cupped her cheek and brought her face in closer to his.

Emma's mind screamed at her to pull away just like it did that night in his apartment. She wasn't ready, it told her. She wasn't ready to be that intimate with a man. Who was she trying to kid thinking she was ready to be that close to Will?

Then Will's lips left hers again for another split second and reconnected a split second later. She could feel Will's hand sliding down her neck and resting at the space in between her neck and her shoulder and felt him tangle his fingers in her hair.

So, she told that voice to shut up. Pushing that voice into the furthest and darkest crevice of her mind, she planted her feet further into the ground, gripped onto Will's arms and pushed herself further into his kiss.

After fighting with herself for so long, Emma knew what she wanted, Emma knew what she needed. All doubts had ceased to exist.

The war was officially and forever over.


End file.
